Tuesday, June 2

Tuesday, June 2

Great day again! I love it when those happen in succession!

We started off the day with a workshop by Paul Spicer, the conductor of the Finzi Singers, which is a professional choir here. A fantastic one at that. He taught a lot about directing technique (not conducting) and how to teach singing, as well as some of his personal teaching methods. It was super interesting. So that was the first session. The second was about the Finzi Singers, which was totally awesome, because we got to hear recordings of a whole lot of their stuff. Then lunch. Third session was about music and spirituality. It was super hard to stay awake because it was right after lunch, it was mighty warm in the chapel, he was largely reading his presentation, and honestly, a whole lot of it was over my head. So I didn't do so well on the whole staying awake thing during that session. After that, I took a nap, so I could be awake for the fourth session, which was about George Dysis and Herbert Howells, which I liked quite a bit. He read most of it, which I didn't particularly enjoy, but it had some good stuff (Spicer wrote biographies on the two men.).

Anyway, I really liked the day in class, though it was a little long (till 4:30). I really liked him, and I was actually thinking about how much I've liked so many Britons. They are just so wonderfully open, warm and frienly. I really enjoy them because they are simply so pleasant! I think they have maintained a real faith in humanity, whereas we Americans have lost much of our faith in the natural goodness of people.

I was talking about this with Chris and he pointed out how British people on the whole are not a terribly competitive people. He used the choral society to illustrate this. Here, there are levels for every skill set of choral singing, so you simply find where you fit in, and sing there. But I've never heard of anyone moving up on the ladder of choral singing. They only stay about where they are. In the US, we hear about people advancing all the time, because it is built into our systems to advance and to be a bit cut-throat. Because of that, we come to distrust people in general, because we are convinced they are out to get us in some way or other. However, British people instinctively trust people, and it shows through the way they treat total strangers; they are kind, gentle, warm, and cordial. It's just a blasted pleasure to talk with them. Anyway, enough on that.

After class, I went to wait in line to get tickets for a play called “London Assurance.” Scott, Michelle, and I ended up getting in, but we paid a pretty penny for the tickets—44 lbs. But frankly, it was worth it. It was some of the best comedic theatre I've ever seen. Just fantastic stuff. It reminded me quite a bit of “The Importance of Being Ernest,” but with more deceit, more clever writing, more puns, and more farce. So basically, a glorified version of “Ernest.” It was absolutely hysterical. It certainly kept our minds racing the entire time, just trying to keep up with their lines and puns. It was great fun. And we actually saw some pretty famous film actors in it too! Aunt Petunia, from Harry Potter, as well as the main servant in A Knight's Tale. Pretty cool stuff.

And then on home! Great day.